Around this time last year, Kelly Ripa was making all kinds of headlines for some unfortunate reasons. When her co-host Michael Strahan abruptly announced his departure from their series Live with Kelly and Michael, Ripa made some slightly accusatory public statements and even stepped away from the show for two unscheduled days. Now, Kelly Ripa has spoken out about what she thinks attracted the public to the drama with Michael Strahan, saying this:
Everybody at a certain point in their career, or even in their lives, has felt left out of major decisions and major conversations. I think that was the reason that people really responded to it the way they did -- because it's so much a part of everybody's life at some point.
Well, it sounds like somebody isn't entirely over the drama just yet! Kelly Ripa doesn't seem to fault the public for their interest in what went down between her, Michael Strahan, and ABC, but she does still seem offended that she didn't have much warning that Michael Strahan was going to announce his departure when he did. Ripa has been open about the fact that she was not informed that Live with Kelly and Michael would soon just be Live with Kelly, and her comments to The Washington Post indicate that time hasn't entirely soothed the sting of the situation.
Given that his departure led to rumors of Live being cancelled altogether, I didn't blame Kelly Ripa for feeling betrayed when Michael Strahan decided to leave for the arguably pastures of Good Morning America. Of course, the entire affair was a bit of a he said/she said fiasco, as some sources indicated that Strahan was jumping ship because of how he was being treated on Live. It was not a pretty situation.
That said, the ratings for Live at least seemed to benefit from the drama. Ratings for the first episode after Kelly Ripa returned jumped a massive 62%, and Ripa was quite professional once she was back on the airwaves. We recently learned that Live has landed a permanent replacement for Michael Strahan, after the last year or so of Ripa appearing with guest co-hosts. She'll be teaming up with Ryan Seacrest moving forward. Hopefully their partnership will involve more banter and less drama. Seacrest is a well-known figure in pop culture thanks to his long-running stint as host of American Idol, and he could have the right energy and outlook to fit well on the small screen with Kelly Ripa.
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